■"U.N. Reports a Possible Push Into Congo by Rwandans," by Michael Wines, New York Times, 3 December 2004, p. A6.
UN is reporting that Rwandan troops are once again crossing over into the Congo. The UN has photos and notes and overhead satellite pictures. What can they do about any of it.?
The UN will report, deliberate, condemn, sanction and watch.
Why are the Rwandans back in the Congo? They claim Hutu rebels living across the border are venturing into Rwanda on raids. The UN with Congo has sought to disarm the rebels, but you know how good the UN is in getting people to give up their arms…
Some analysts familiar with the situation say Rwanda is simply stirring the pot in the region across its border, which happens to be fairly rich in diamonds, gold and coltan, an ingredient considered “crucial” to manufacturing cell phone circuit boards. So, in the end, this is probably just the usual land grab.
But that’s not to be confused with “resource wars” per se, which is an argument about governments fighting over scarce resources needed for economic survival. This is just the same old greed and bad government that has bedeviled Africa for years:
The United Nations has accused Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi of stealing vast quantities of coltan from Congo, which holds some 80 percent of the world’s known reserves of the mineral.
Don’t be tempted to think the world is somehow held hostage to this mineral. Coltan is “crucial” because it’s been relatively cheap to get from a failed state where looting is the too often the norm—whether by individuals, companies or neighboring governments. If the pain level really rose on this supply, phone companies would simply R&D their way out of the fix. The status quo remains the status quo cause it’s basically working for everyone along the chain. It doesn’t mean that everyone on that chain is legit, just that the chain itself is working.
Much like the oil coming out of the Gulf all these years.
So as long as the Congo is a big, cheap (if lawless and bloody) coltan supplier, life goes on.
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